Primary Health Care Training - A Pillar of our new health system

The White Paper on the Transformation of the Health System in South Africa tabled by the Department of Health to Parliament in April this year reaffirms the Governments commitment to Primary Health Care (PHC) as a foundation for the new unified National Health System. Although Primary Health Care is generally accepted as the way to go to right some of the wrongs of the apartheid past, there are different views regarding implementation. Not least in this debate, is the training of PHC workers.

What is the governments overall strategy in this regard? What curricula changes are planned? What models should be used? What should be the content of the modules? How are mentors being trained at formal institutions? What progress is being made on PHC training in the various Provinces?

These are but some of the issues under discussion in this months update. There is agreement on one thing however - that there must be a move away from classroom-based curriculum to practical and experience-based skills training. Regardless of whether this training is provided by the health or education sectors, it is crucial that there be collaboration between them.

Having accepted primary health care as the way to go, districts have subsequently been identified as the vehicles through which its goals will be realised. In a new column entitled District Development Barometer which replaces Provincial News column, we assess progress within provinces on district implementation. In this issue, the focus is on the Tonga and Shongwe districts in Mpumalanga Province.

Finally, we invite readers to participate in an electronic discussion group for Primary Health Care workers, set up by the HSTs HealthLink Programme. This will provide PHC practitioners with an opportunity to interact with each other on issues that affect them.